SAN MARCOS  Some Latino students at Cal State San Marcos say they were offended by recent pictures posted on the Internet depicting members of a campus sorority dressed as cholas, Latina gang members or hoodlums.

The students say the pictures are disrespectful toward Latinos and likened the images to the “Compton Cookout” incident at UC San Diego two years ago, in which members of a fraternity were invited to dress in gold chains, cheap clothes and gold teeth.

“It was a mockery and disrespectful,” Alma Martinez, a sociology student at Cal State San Marcos, said about the recent photographs, which showed up on a student’s Instagram page.

Martinez helped organize a meeting on campus Tuesday of Latino students, school officials and some sorority members to discuss the incident.

The pictures were taken by members of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority during a spring break retreat. They depict several young women — including some Latinas who are members of the sorority — wearing bandanas and flannel shirts, and making gang-like gestures with their hands.

“We apologize from the bottom of our hearts,” Koelln said. “It was a mistake and a lack of education on our part.”

Koelln declined an interview after the meeting or to discuss details about the incident.

During the meeting, she said the incident involved only “a few girls” at the sorority retreat and was not part of the planned festivities. She said the sorority is racially diverse.

Two of the Latina students who were involved in the photographs said Tuesday that they didn’t intend to offend anyone. The students, who did not give their names, said they have learned from the incident that it was insensitive and hurtful to other people.

But Latino students who were offended by the images said the photographs are the latest in a series of racially charged episodes on campus — including an incident in 2008 in which Cal State San Marcos President Karen Haynes was photographed at a party, dressed up in a Mexican hat and poncho. The picture was posted on a Facebook page called “Stop Racial Appropriation” aimed at deterring similar incidents.

“For an organization on campus to take those kinds of pictures, in light of all that’s happening on campus and to make fun of that, that’s offensive,” said Rodrigo Gonzalez, co-chair of Standing Together As oNe Dream (STAND), a student immigrant-rights organization. “It’s offensive at the campus level.”

Arturo Ocampo, the university’s ombudsman and associate vice president of diversity, education equity and inclusion, said Haynes issued a letter apologizing for the picture of her in the Mexican outfit. He said the picture was taken during an employee recognition event that had a “fiesta theme.”

“There is no question that that type of behavior is not acceptable at this university,” Ocampo said during the meeting.

According to Haynes’ letter, “celebrations that were themed around ethnic and cultural background” have been discontinued.

Margaret Lutz, a spokeswoman for the university, said the administration is taking steps to address the incident, including holding meetings such as the one Tuesday. She said the campus will also deploy a “bias incident network” this fall to respond to future incidents of hate and bias.